Combined pianoforte and mechanical music-work.



Patented Oct. 24, I899.

F. W/UFSKY. COMBINED PIANOFORTE AND IECHANIGAL MUSIC WORK.

(Application filed Aug. 25, 1898.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRIEDRICH IVILHELM OFSKY, OF LEIPSIC-GOHLIS, GERMANY.

COMBINED PIANOFORTE AND MECHANICAL MUSIC-WORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,887, dated October 24, 1899.

I Application filed August 25, 1898. $erial No. 689,523. (No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH WILHELM: OFSKY, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Leipsic-Gohlis, Germany, have invented a certain new and useful Combined Pianoforte and Mechanical Music-'W'ork, of which the following is a specification.

In the annexed drawings there is shown an upright piano with a mechanical music-work having a music-disk provided in it, so that the music-work can be operated in a mechanical manner or the pianoforte played by hand, or both simultaneously. This combination of musical work with the piano has for its purpose to use the soundingboard of the piano also for the musical work, and thus give to the latter a more pleasant and fuller tone.

Figure 1 shows the front view of the combined piano and musical work, the casing of the piano being partly removed. Fig. 2 shows a section taken at A B of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a modified form on the line C D of Fig. 1 with changed position of the driving-work for the music-disk, and Figs. 41 and 5 show in two Views details of the same.

In this piano provided with mechanical music-work the latter is arranged in the piano in such a manner that its base-plate is connected with the sounding-board of the piano, and this board comes also into eifect for the musical work when the latter is playing. By this combination of the musical work with the piano not only a fuller tone is obtained for the first, but a special casing for the same is not necessary.

The piano, as Well as the musical work, may be of any known construction.

The musical work is fixed in the middle of the upper part of the piano, with its baseplate a on a frame Z), supported in the pianoframe so that the music-sheet-carrying axle c is directed from back to front. The musicdisk d, put thereon, is hidden by the door G, forming apparently a panel of the upper front wall of the piano, so that exteriorly nothingis to be seen of the musical work, and for changing the music-sheet d the door G must be opened.

The driving-work E for turning the musiedisk is placed in the piano according to the space at disposal, a spring driving-work E is used, and in Figs. 1 and 2, for example, it is arranged in the under part of the piano in such a manner that the same can be wound up from outside. The music-disk is turned by the axle 'n, which is rotated by the driving-work E, passing, as shown in Figs. etand 5, between the piano-keys s upward and is provided with a wheel 0, the teeth of which engage in perforations on the periphery of the music-disk. The two adjacent side surfaces of the pianoforte-keys between which the axle it passes may be cut away, as shown in Fig. 5, for the convenient passage of the said axle. The base-plate a of the musical work is solidly connected by the bolt 7; with the string frame h, carrying the pianoforte strings, and by the bolt m with the sounding board 13 of the piano in order that the sound ing of the musical work may be reinforced by the sound-board of the piano. During the playing of the musical work the dampers are lifted from the piano-strings by the pedal and kept lifted off by fixing the pedal, in order that the strings may vibrate in harmony with the musical work when the latter is playing. Fig. 3 shows that the spring-motor E instead of being placed in the under part can be ar-' ranged in the upper part of the piano, and in this case the music-disk d is to be turned by the axle n with the wheel 0 in the same manner.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a pianoforte of a mechanical musical work placed within the casing of the pianoforte and having its base plate attached to the sounding-board of the pianoforte.

2. The combination with a pianoforte of a mechanical musical work placed within the casing of the pianoforte in the upper part thereof in front of the pianoforte-action, a rod 7.; connecting the base-plate a of said musical work to the pianoforte-string plate and a rod in connecting said base-plate to the soundboard 29 of the pianoforte.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

FRIEDRICH IVILHELM OFSKY.

Witnesses:

JULIUs THEODOR MARQUEZ, RUDOLPH FRIOKE. 

